Mark Renders, European Communities — CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1993 Ghana's Fourth Republic was inaugurated, with Jerry Rawlings sworn in as its first elected president under a new multi-party constitution.
PoliticsOn this day — January 7 in African history
Real events, births and milestones from Africa and the diaspora.
Mark Renders, European Communities — CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1993 
Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons 1968 J. L. B. Smith, the South African chemist and ichthyologist famed for identifying the first modern coelacanth in 1938, died at age 70.
Science
Alvaro — CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons 2015 Georges Wolinski, Tunisian-French cartoonist, was killed in the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in Paris.
Death
World Economic Forum — CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons 1945 Raila Odinga, who went on to serve as Kenya's second prime minister and remained a defining figure in Kenyan politics for decades, was born (died 2025).
Birth
Bob Ramsak — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1991 Caster Semenya, South African Olympic and world champion middle-distance runner, was born.
Birth
Tanjagari — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 1978 UNESCO inscribed Ethiopia's rock-hewn churches of Lalibela as a World Heritage Site; the medieval churches remain the centerpiece of Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas (Ledet) celebrations held every January 7 under the Ge'ez calendar.
Culture